Skater Babes with Attitude

If you like your women sweet and petite, you may want to avoid the upcoming battle between ShEvil Dead and the Undead Bettys. But if you'd like to return to the days when roller derby was the hottest sport around, and if you enjoy fast action, demonic imagery, and strong women—then give it a chance.

The teams mix it up October 12 at the Antioch Indoor Sports Complex in Antioch. On October 19, the Bay Area Derby Girls All Stars confront Sacramento's Sacred City Derby Girls at the Armory in San Francisco. Meets between the area's many teams continue throughout the year.

Roller Derby, once nearly extinct, has been on a roll since 2001, revived not as pure show biz, but as real as any sport can be with players named Abominatrix and Diva Negativa.

"We don't now who's going to win," says Cemetery Mary [Rebecca Perkins], founder of the Undead Bettys. "We don't fight on purpose."

But if you're new to the scene, watch where you sit.

"You can't tell what will happen," Cemetery Mary says. "Is that jammer going to get knocked down? Or is the whole pack going to get knocked down? We could put a girl into the crowd. You can get a girl in your lap."

For more on the Bay Area Derby Girls' S.F. date, click here. For the Undead Bettys in Antioch, click here.